Bulldogs earn recognition for accomplishments

The Ionia football program put a stamp on the 2012 season Monday night with its annual end of the season banquet at the high school.

Despite finishing the year with a 3-6 record, many of the Bulldog players were recognized for their accomplishments on and off the field.

"The season is not always measured in wins and losses," Ionia coach Mike Holes said. "Would we like to have had more wins, of course, but now our focus is getting numbers.

"We had a great group of seniors this year. They all worked hard and led by example on and off the field."

A total of 39 players earned IHS Scholar Athlete Awards for achieving a grade point average of 3.2 or better during the fall sports season. Out of those, seniors Devin Gorby, Bryant Nummer, Braden Bennett, and Ryan Klumpp; juniors Bailey Mitchell and Erric Spohr; and sophomore Austin Gregory all earned Capital Area Activities Conference Academic Awards as well.

As a team, the varsity Bulldogs put together a 3.65 cumulative GPA during the fall sports season.

A total of seven varsity players were also recognized by the CAAC Red coaches as they earned all-league honors.

Klumpp, Nummer and sophomore Kyle Parks were named first-team All-CAAC Red, while seniors Jordan Miller, Chris Ahmed, Tim Wohlfert; and Gregory received all-league honorable mention.Team awards went to Klumpp and sophomore Doug Henry, who shared the Lineman Award; Nummer, who was named the most improved player on the team; seniors Mike Cory and Klumpp were named winners of the Chuck Kohloff 100 Percent Award; and Jordan Miller was named the varsity Bulldogs' most valuable player by his teammates.

Spohr, Gregory and Jon Klumpp will be team captains for the 2013 season.